Tuesday, 9 October 2012

01 September 2012

Quarry lane - cherries of the trees

An article read in Country Style Magazine shortly before the Byron trip encouraged this pursuit of Ewingsdale Coffee and his field of Coffee trees and processing plant. The one lane road was misleading, in that paddocks of grazing cattle meandered over vibrant green sheets of treeless space. I arrived to a tall home amongst feverish growth, where I interrupted a lunch that I thought the Robert I was looking for was perched. Not Robert. This polite man could smell the pursuit of the cherries I wore and gladly left his plate to show me his backyard of coffee growth; recreational growth; healthy future beans of a bruised blood red. Typica and Caturra he had in his paved back doorstep. Bursting with fruit, the limbs of the plants arched towards the earth. Arching as a pregnant womens back under the heavyness of wonderful new life.

Internodel spacing and the importance of the ferment time, parchment for sweetness, the porous nature of green bean - this man new it as a chef new the foundations of a maison plus for service. The preperation of the cherries before their roasting life I had read only of in books and magazines. The journey of the seed in its long maturing months to the hard-green stage. Another piece of the puzzle of the smooth seeds I see after processing and shipment. I thank this wonderful passionate for sharing his knowledge and time with me. Leaving your lunch and charging my camera for these photos make me all the more grateful.

Further down this mysterious lane, on a track I thought the van would not make, Ewingsdale coffee and Robert I found. My visit here was well timed, as he poured a pick of glistening cherries into a hulling machine. A belt slapped the fruit from the seed with incredible efficiency. Drying patios with cherries dehydrating themselves closer to the 12% moisture sat neatly by the factory he preppared the processed cherries for their forward journey to ovens ahead! A pocket of bustling caffeine activity in the secluded hills of Byron Bay.

A Gravity Infusion

About Me

Parachilna wet

Tullah Estate Basket Press Grenache

Experimenting with natural and additional yeast with a small grab of fruit from David Swan's 60 year old Grenache vines in Blewitt Springs.

I suggest this

McLaren Vale Winemaker Rose Kentish has crafted this magnificent, full bodied Vermentinu in France on her annual voyage.Incredibly full and lengthy. A little different to the Vermentino we find from the Australian producer.As the vines have a ripe age of 70 years - rather than the young toddler Aussies we find in our neck of the woods.

ULITHORNE Vermentinu

Discovered

Waiheke Island Olives

The coastal walk from Oneroa village to the ferry took a 8 km undulating hike through groves of olives and chardonnay vines, stretching to the edges of a rugged coast. Set us up perfectly for a glass of Chardy at the Oyster Inn on completion of our thigh burning sight seeing.